Can you believe it? The summer is almost over! Pretty soon we’ll be complaining about the cold, shoveling snow and thinking about the warmer month’s ahead!! Before we get there, let’s do a little housekeeping.
Before it gets cold, before the bad weather, there are a few things to think about.
It’s a good idea to check and replace batteries in your smoke detectors, C02 detectors and any home safety appliance that you might have-things like flashlights. Batteries do run out and expire over time. Also – it’s a good idea to check your homeowner’s and flood policies. Most people buy these policies, stick them in a drawer and forget about them.
Because people forget about these things, it’s not unusual to find out your home policy has not kept up with the value of your house or the value of your personal property. In some cases, I’ve found people to be over insured – so adjustments can be made to lower coverage, lower your premium and same a few dollars. Remember the important thing is to be “insured to value”.
What are your liability limits? We live in a “sue happy” society. Check your limits; make certain you have enough personal liability. It’s not unusual to find older policies with liability limits of $100,000 or $300,000. This was probably adequate then, but way to low today. Having $1,000,000 or more of personal liability is more in line with today’s environment -especially if you have assets or if you have kids who are driving. You’ll also find that increasing liability limits are pretty inexpensive – but worth every penny of it.
If you live in a flood zone-or even if you don’t – check your policy, make certain you have adequate coverage. Over the past few years we’ve had a number of storms that did tremendous damage – even to areas that were not considered to be in a high risk zone. So it’s worth the time to take a look. If you can’t find current policies, then call your broker or your insurance company directly and ask for a copy of the declaration pages – or “dec” pages for short. The “dec” pages are the first 2 or 3 pages of the policy that will list your coverage amounts along with the premium.
So enjoy the rest of the summer and always feel free to contact me if you want to discuss any insurance issue you might have!
